Quote from Caranthir »And it is not like Tolkien's world did not have other skin colors in it...the Easterlings, the Umbar corsairs, the Haradrim...
The minions of Sauron, the pirates who tried to join Sauron, and the minions of Sauron?
You see the problem there, right?
EDIT: Also, I think you might to take another look at Boromir and Faramir.
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"Yeah?"
"We lied. But on the plus side we made this totally unnecessary Green card that ramps you when you don't need it!"
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"Imagine if your ears were pointy and you had a bunch of little green friends that would all kick butt with you if you needed to. That is how an elf do."
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Here's my question: What are things that White should, uniquely, be able to do, and furthermore do well enough to be competitive?
While it's not a direction I think WOTC should take, I think a space that should be explored is taxing. If WOTC refuses to give decent ramp or card draw to White, then the very least they can do is make it so that doing those things is a little more difficult (not IMPOSSIBLE) for all the other colors. I'm not a fan of this kind of model, however, as it suggests that the only way White can be good at something is when it is in fact failing miserably, and has to drag other colors down to its level in order to maintain parity.
Token generation used to be a very White thing too, but all the colors create tokens now. I still think that this is a space that could be brought back and developed.
Exile effects are also very White, although we've been seeing Black start to flex its muscles in this area recently. Exiling is often a very good form of removal, but all too often it is conditional, requiring the creature or enchantment doing the exiling to remain on the field.
Other things that White does or has cared about in the past are enchantments/auras/equipment/artifacts/gaining life. Voltron or Enchantment tribal is all very well and good but I think it's been about done to death, and it doesn't really do much to address the core problems White has at the moment. Sure, there's incidental card draw off auras sometimes, but nothing substantial. Equipment has been pushed hard, but I think it's better in Boros than just in plain White. General artifact support is not amazing. Lifegain is supported, but again, does it solve any real issues?
What else is there that White does, or could do? Thinking about this in the car as I was driving, I also thought we could make a distinction between "Hard countering" and "Return to hand" - Blue can have the former, and White the latter. White often returns things to hand, although annoyingly it requires you to control the target. It fits in better in White than in Blue, I think, as it's that same sort of vague strategy White control has - it doesn't deal with the problem permanently, it just puts it off for a short time and hopes for a miracle.
What are your opinions on this? Let me know; I'm legitimately interested in this topic.
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The whole thing is depressing and confusing. It doesn't make sense apart from a cash grab point of view. These cards are mechanically unique and furthermore will not be printed again (barring a, God help us, TWD set). We haven't been able to determine their power level yet in terms of how necessary to a game-winning combo they are, but they have the potential to become key pieces. It's disgusting that Hasbro is just staring at us manically, shoving these in our face, and saying "Buy it. Or else."
These should never have been legal in the first place. They are monetizing legality and that sets a very dangerous precedent - there's nothing to stop them from printing a 1 generic mana card that says "When you cast this card, you win the game." and then charging whatever they want for it, all the while shamelessly urging people to buy with arbitrary purchasing times.
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